Benfleet

Benfleet is a town in Essex, England, located 30 miles east of London. It was originally known as Beamfleot, meaning "tree stream" in the Anglo-Saxon language, and the area was largely marshland in the 4th century. However, it became the site of an important fortress along the River Thames by the time of the Viking Age, and, in 884, the Viking brothers Sigefrid and Erik Thurgilsson seized the fortress, which was the site of the Battle of Beamfleot two years later. In 894, another battle was fought at Benfleet, this time between Edward the Elder and Aethelred of Mercia's West Saxon-Mercian army and Hastein's Danish army. The Danes were decisively defeated, and the Saxons built a church in thanksgiving for their victory.